IISD

Identity & Report

Since 1990 the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) has been at the forefront of providing solutions to some of our most challenging environmental, social and economic challenges. The organization reports on international climate negotiations, conducts its own research, and helps citizens, businesses and governments develop better sustainability policies. IISD has offices in Canada, the U.S., and Switzerland, operating in more than 70 countries. The organization asked Manoverboard for help with two discrete projects: to develop a visual identity for Prairie Climate Centre and to design a new report about fossil fuel subsidies and their impact on the economy and environment in Indonesia.

A collaborative venture between IISD and the University of Winnipeg, Prairie Climate Centre’s mandate is to build more resilient cities, businesses and agriculture in the prairie region. The centre’s new team asked us to devise a visual identity that would connect with the business community and government and provide a visual foundation for its new brand. A project of IISD, the Global Subsidies Initiative asked us to create a new report that would showcase its years of research about Indonesia’s reforms to its fossil fuel subsidies. Numerous economists and scientists had come to the conclusion that fuel subsidy reform improved public expenditure in social welfare and infrastructure and increased funding to villages across the country.

The Solutions

In speaking with the team at Prairie Climate Centre, we identified three ecosystems that the organization studies: the wind and atmosphere; agricultural lands and spaces; and the built environment. All three are uniquely affected by changes in climate and impact urban habitats, food security, wildlife, forests and the prairies. The visual identity we developed indicates all three ecosystems and is modular so that the centre can use the monogram on its own, just the logotype, or both together. The centre was able to quickly apply the new logo to an online atlas, various social media channels, and other communications tools.

For the report, entitled “Financing Development with Fossil Fuel Subsidies: The Reallocation of Indonesia’s Gasoline and Diesel Subsidies in 2015,” Manoverboard took a different approach to a research report focused on economic policy. We combined hand-drawn and custom infographics with large, bold photography of people working in Indonesia and crafted a fresh-looking document. The report illustrates how Indonesia’s reallocation of fuel subsidies not only created new funds to invest in social programs but resulted in less air pollution and fewer carbon emissions.